


Harry Potter, the Coward

by JFC



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Character Bashing, Depression, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-18 03:48:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JFC/pseuds/JFC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry lost his magic when he refused to be part of the Triwizard Tournament. Being reduced to a squib the wizarding community start to harass him for been, a coward, afraid to compete. Time passes, and Harry's magic returns, but only with the help of a Horcrux that Dumbledore thought to have been destroyed the day when the boy's magic was taken away along with his famous bolt scar. AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harry Potter, the Coward. One-shot!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Fictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fictionist/gifts), [Krysania (Tat)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tat/gifts), [Scioneeris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scioneeris/gifts).



> Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
> 
> This chapter was written as a one-shot for fanfiction, but I later decided to continue the story.

**xXxDumbledorexXx**

Dumbledore was sitting in his office, trying to stay calm as he thought back on the child. Harry Potter, the boy that used to be known as _"the boy who lived"_ , but now recognized as _"the boy who became a squib"_ and more commonly as _"Harry Potter, the coward"_. Taking a drink from his goblet of pumpkin juice, he thought back of that day - the day Harry Potter's name came out from the Goblet of Fire. It had been more than three years since that happened, but he could still remember all of the shocked faces, when the goblet produced a fourth name from the blue flames, especially Harry's when he called his name after reading the small piece of parchment.

He remembered how the child was bullied by the rest of the school after that day, treating him as a cheater and a stealer of Cedric's moment. The insults were then soon changed to 'coward'. During the first task of the tournament, where the Champions had had to face a dragon and steal one of its eggs, the crowd was reduced to shocked silence. When Harry's turn came to face the dragon, the boy had vanished. Soon insults started to come from the crowd, as they called the boy a coward. A coward that decided to run after looking at the dragon he had to face.

Taking another drink, he then remembered how anxious and scared he was when he learned of the boy's disappearance. Harry _had_ to compete; he couldn't allow himself to lose his most important piece of the chessboard. The tournament's contract dictated that Champions that didn't participate would lose their magic as a consequence, as such he couldn't permit the boy who lived to lose his magic - the child was needed for the war against Voldemort. Hours later, he managed to find Harry with the help of several Ministry Aurors. While searching for the boy he was developing a plan of discreetly using the Imperius curse on Harry to force the boy to compete, but when he found him it was already too late. Harry was using his invisibility cloak to keep himself hidden and harder to find; when they found him in Hogsmeade it was already past midnight - the day of the first task had already passed. He unsuccessfully tried to control his anger when he saw the unconscious body of the boy lying on the ground with most parts of his body still invisible, hidden beneath the cloak. The statements of the tournament's contract had already taken effect. Harry Potter's magic had been taken away.

After Dumbledore remembered that moment, when he saw the boy's unconscious and magic-less body, he angrily threw the goblet of juice, smashing it into pieces as it hit the wall. A little calmer, he thought back on the rest of the Wizarding world's reactions as they learned of such developments. When the sun had risen again, the rest of the wizarding world had already heard of what happened at the tournament. The public had gone into hysterics as they learned that their famous "boy who lived" had been reduced to a mere squib. Some of the public looked at the child with sympathy, but most could only agree with the tournament's crowd and called him a coward as well. They couldn't believe that the boy who lived, champion of the people and destroyer of He Who Must Not Be Named, was scared of dragons. They couldn't understand how someone that managed to win and survive the Dark Lord was unable to go on and complete the first task.

He remembered all the things he tried to do to recover the boy's magic. He remembered how, back in that time, he wasn't willing to let himself lose such a valuable pawn in his game to that contract. He tried everything, yet nothing worked in the end. The only thing that calmed him a bit back then, and now, with all that had happened, was the fact that Harry's famous scar had also vanished in the process. It seems that Dumbledore didn't need to get rid of the boy, as he was no longer holding a part of Tom's soul inside of him.

Time passed, and with him being unable to find a way to return Harry's magic, the boy was forced to leave Hogwarts. Being reduced to a squib status, he could no longer attend the school as a student, so he was sent back to the Dursleys. He was expecting Harry to protest at this new development, especially as he knew of how the boy's relatives had been treating him, but surprisingly the child didn't care about that. It seems that after all that happened, the rest of the school had started to bully and insult the boy into a point where Harry didn't mind returning to that house. He didn't stay there for long, anyway. Rita Skeeter had managed to make public, in one of her articles, Harry's muggle residence. As a result, it made Privet Drive a common visitor's spot, if not a tourist area, of wizards and witches as they went every day to demand from the boy who lived some explanation of what happened in the tournament. They wanted to know why he ran, why he preferred the option of losing his magic and become a squib instead of going through with the task.

Harry left the house by the end of the month to live in hiding with his godfather, Sirius Black. He didn't mind that the boy had left, the wards had become useless with Harry no longer being a wizard, and with Harry now a squib and no longer a Horcrux, the boy had lost much importance for him. Even more, when just a few months ago, he learned of the news that Voldemort didn't care for the child either. Voldemort was now convinced that Harry was no longer a threat, and decided to forget about the boy and concentrate more on the war.

Two and a half years after the tournament, Voldemort had managed to find another way to recreate a body for himself and make himself public. With no more threats in his way, Voldemort was now focused and determined to finally win the War, which he was currently accomplishing by taking over the Ministry the day previously.

That brought Dumbledore's thoughts to the present. He was trying to control his anger as he read of the news of Voldemort's finally taking control of the Ministry. After months of fighting each other, Voldemort managed to win a "round" against him, and took over the Ministry. He was still in control of Hogwarts, though. He was not going to let Voldemort take control of his school. While he stayed and protected the school, the Order members were still searching for the rest of Tom's Horcruxes so they could be destroyed. They had already managed to get rid of four of them, excluding Harry's.

"Harry Potter," He mused, as he turned to look towards a small picture of the boy on his desk. "This war was much easier when Voldemort stupidly focused all of his mind on you."

**xXxHarry PotterxXx**

It had been more than three years since he had made his decision not to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. It was a decision that marked his life forever, when his life as a wizard was concerned. He had lost his ability to use magic, and he was now treated by the public even worse than how the Dursley's treated him. Something that he thought was impossible.

He was called a coward at first, with some resentment, but now he was called both a coward and a liar. He was called a liar, since Voldemort finally made his public return. A liar, because they all thought of him as been responsible of finally eliminating He Who Must Not Be Named, and an even bigger coward than before...because he ran away, became a squib, and could no longer fight against the Dark Lord. He could accept the coward part, but how could he be called a liar for that? He didn't even know about the magical world until he was eleven years old. With Voldemort returning and as he was now treated far worse than before, his Godfather decided to fully erase all traces of both of them from the magical world, and only stay, hide, and live in the muggle world.

Bringing him to his present situation - currently living on the continent of Australia. He was now looking through the window, as the school bus carried him towards his new muggle school, ignoring all the teenagers around him. He didn't talk much anymore, and the few times he did, it was mostly with Sirius, the only person that had yet to abandon him. With the exception of Sirius, all of the people he considered as family and friends had long abandoned and forgotten about him. Some of them did stay and support him for a while after becoming a squib, but with time they started to break contact with him. Even more so after Voldemort made his return, as they received pressure from the public, who harassed them for being supportive of him.

He was slowly flexing the fingers of his left hand as he tried to control his anger. Anger that increased even more as he thought back of that day he had made his decision to not compete. He remembered how in that day he had gotten tired. Tired of been the famous boy who lived. Tired of been the one that must constantly face and thwart the Dark Lord. Tired of always having something happening at the school, and he always had to be the one to have some connection with it. He was tired, and when he though that for once he was going to have a normal year, maybe not with the tournament but they only let seventeen years old to participate so it was not going to affect him that much, the damn Goblet had to pull out his name. So he made the decision of not letting this apparent curse win this time around. He was not going to let it decide again, and force him to compete in that damn Tournament even if he had to lose his magic in the process. So he went on and in the last minute he used his invisibility cloak to hide himself, and ran away from Hogwarts.

He had regretted it many times, he still did, but he was exhausted of been the _"boy who lived"_. Something that he managed to change in the process, even better now that for some strange reason Voldemort had stopped going after him. He thought at first that it could have been because of his current squib status, but as he thought about it more deeply, he could no longer believe that. Voldemort would have still gone on and killed him anyways. "I just don't understand why he keeps me alive…" he murmured to himself.

**xXxTom RiddlexXx**

'You will understand pretty soon, Harry Potter,' he thought. He was not Voldemort, but actually one of his many Horcruxes. A Horcrux that used to live dormant on Harry's forehead, but became active the day that Harry's magic was taken away. The lightning bolt scar was erased from the boy's forehead, because the Horcrux had moved inside his body. As time passed, the Horcrux was adapting with the child's body, with his magic very slowly replacing the magical cores that the boy had lost. By now he had nearly recovered the boy's ability to use magic - not at the levels that the child originally had, but he was no longer a squib either. He kept it in control to prevent the boy from learning of this, as he was waiting until the time was right. That time would be a week from now. It would still take two more years for Harry to make a full recovery of his original core's capacity, but he wanted to reveal himself much sooner. Wanting to use that time to teach the boy about the missing Hogwarts years, and help him recover all of that valuable time he had already lost, and more.

He would have to teach the boy how to defend himself, and in the process gain some influence over him. Sadly, no matter how much access he could get on the boy's mind and body, he couldn't permanently take full control of Harry. He would have taken over a long time ago if he was able to. The maximum he could do was control the body for several minutes a day, so he was not able to protect the body, including himself the Horcrux, properly. Potter had to be taught well so he could take over and protect both of them for the time that the Horcrux wasn't able to.

He still used it a couple of times, and took over the body for enough time to send a letter and reveal to the Dark Lord Harry's true status as a Horcrux vessel. The Dark Lord had been furious when he learned of that fact, as he could no longer fulfill his wish of getting rid of the runt. He had accepted his plan on keeping that detail a secret to fully convince Dumbledore that Voldemort's Horcrux that resided inside Harry was no more, when in fact it was very much alive. With the boy now having to be kept alive, and the Horcrux's not been able to take full control of the body, Voldemort had also given him the task to turn Harry to his side. In other words, his mission was to get, if not force, the boy under Voldemort's control.

He didn't mind as he had already been doing such thing by developing some influences over Harry's thoughts and ideas. He had been slowly increasing Harry's hatred for Dumbledore and his friends for a while now. This hate would get even stronger when he finally revealed to the boy the fact that he was actually holding a Horcrux, and that Dumbledore only kept him alive to be killed at the proper moment.

While he waited for the week to come, he continued to distract himself by looking through Harry's memories. Not realizing that with each passing day, as he continued to watch the boy's memories and realize how similar they were, he was getting more and more possessive over Harry. The Horcrux was slowly changing his mind as he wanted the boy for himself, and not in Voldemort's control or anyone else.

**xXxThe EndxXx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it. The rest of the already written chapters, would be posted soon.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the first chapter of the story. Hope you like it.
> 
> Note: These scenes takes place some hours after the first task.

**xXxChapter IxXx**

**xXxEntrance HallxXx**

"We finally found him, Minerva," Dumbledore stated as he noticed her walking down the marble staircase of the front hall. He had just came back from his search with the rest of the wizards and witches, that had also volunteered to help on his search for the boy, close behind him.

"Thank goodness! Is he okay, is he alright?" she asked as she approached the Headmaster after walking down the stairs. She had been waiting at the balcony of the entrance hall for a while now, worried sick not knowing of Mr. Potter's whereabouts. Hours before, when Harry had gone missing, she had gladly helped to look for the boy but as time passed she was asked to return to Hogwarts. Apparently her house had gone into such a disarray that her selected prefects and heads were in need of her to control it. They were right though. After her intervention, the Gryffindor's house points were now at zero. Putting in doubt the probability of the Lions winning the House Cup this year.

"He's alright, Professor McGonagall," Severus sarcastically answered for the Headmaster, "if you don't count the boy now been a squib as a problem."

"Not now, Severus," Dumbledore ordered as he was not in the mood to endure any of the professor's mocking speeches. He was already at his limits on trying to stay calm and patient with the current developments to now let himself withstand any of Snape's grudges against the boy. "Sadly, Professor Snape is right, Minerva," he added as he looked back at the woman. "Harry looks fine physically but it seems like the contract statements were true. I can no longer feel anything magical coming out from the boy."

McGonagall successfully managed to control herself, stopping her tears from coming out, as she heard the news. She already had several hours to lament this possible outcome; the only thing left was to confirm it, which happened just now. "C-can the contract's magical effects be revoked?" she asked as this was the main reason for why she was not going hysterical. She hoped for the possibility of Albus knowing of some way to fix this.

"I don't know," he murmured, "but there must be a way," he added, as he was also hoping for away to recover his most important chess piece. "This is the very first time that the contract's statements have actually taken effect," he revealed, "no other past participants have dared to put their magic at risk."

"Despite this, we are still hoping to come up with something that will recover the boy's abilities," one of the Aurors that helped look for the boy approached them. "My name is Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Professor Dumbledore," he revealed as he shook hands with the Headmaster. "I was asked to inform you that the Ministry has decided to let the boy stay in here for the rest of the night," it was already past midnight, "by fourteen hundred hours, a group of Aurors will come to take the boy and sent him to St. Mungo's."

"Dumbledore, they can't-"

Minerva was stopped from continuing when the aforementioned wizard raised a hand towards her. "Anything else, Mr. Shacklebolt?" he calmly asked, while he thought of several ways to go through this current development. He also agreed with Minerva, he was not going to let the Ministry use this opportunity to take control of his pawn. Potter might have turned into a squib, for now, but he was still the boy who lived and bearer of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. As a result, Harry Potter was still a very important piece in his war against Voldemort. He would have to go to the Ministry in the morning and do something to prevent the Ministry from taking the boy away.

Shacklebolt nodded. "A few of the Aurors will be staying behind, investigating further, to see if the things that happened during the first task weren't actually caused by other possibilities."

"What do you mean by other possibilities? Obviously the boy ran from the tournament like the coward that he is. That's what happened."

"All the current evidence suggests that you are correct Professor Snape, my department just want to make sure."

'More like the Ministry just want to take the boy into their custody,' Dumbledore sarcastically thought.

"An Auror from my team was originally going stay with the boy, to give him some company, while the official group arrived; but one of your current professors, Professor Moody, a retired Auror of the Ministry, has volunteered for the job."

This also, Dumbledore didn't like at all. He didn't like the idea of Moody being selected to be the bodyguard for Potter for the night, especially now that the boy was a squib. More accurately, he did trust Moody very much, the problem was that he had a large suspicion that the current D.A.D.A. professor was not Alastor Moody at all. He kept quiet though, since the boy would still be inside his grounds, and this could also be used as a way to confirm his suspicions about the current Mad-Eye.

"I hear all this talk about the boy and still I don't see him. Where is he? Where is Mr. Potter?" Minerva finally snapped as she continued to look and try to find the black-haired boy between the group of wizards and witches present.

"Right here, Professor McGonagall." A voiced was heard, capturing McGonagall's attention.

'Madam Pomfrey,' she thought as she walked towards the voice, passing through several wizards and witches, only to find the school nurse standing beside a hovering stretcher containing the person at fault of her current worries. "Harry, Harry Potter!" she exclaimed as she ran towards the young man's side only to find him unconscious.

"Not counting the boy's magical cores, he's fine," Pomfrey answered the professor's unasked question. "He must have lost his consciousness when the tournament's stipulations took effect."

"She's not completely right, Professor McGonagall."

"And you are?" the professor asked, after both Pomfrey and her had turned their faces towards the new voice, only to find a roughly sixty year old man with short black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a black robe and carrying a large brown bag with a darker brown variation of the healers symbol.

"Sorry, I'm Mr. Dowson. I was one of the Mediwizards selected to attend the tournament in case something drastic happened." he said, while shaking McGonagall's hand. "Like I was saying, your school nurse is not completely right. Mr. Potter might look fine but suddenly losing all his magical cores must have been drastic to the boy's body in some way. At least, it should be feeling dead tired after been drained like that. The boy will be needing a lot of rest."

"Thanks for telling me, Med-"

"I don't like titles, just call me Mr. Dowson."

"…Mr. Dowson. How long do you think Mr. Potter would be needed to stay on bed-rest to recover?" Minerva continued, after been interrupted for a moment. "And do you know if there's away to recover the boy's magical cores?"

"On your first question…that would depend on the patient but, if I have to make an estimate, I would say at least three weeks of staying in bed to make some recovery. On the second one, I honestly don't know. According to the Ministry this has been the very first time that a student had lost their magical cores through the contract. There might be some hope with those news, but looking at your face I can see that you already knew that."

"Yes, I did."

"I will take my leave now, but before that, I will also add this. This might be the first time that someone has lost their magical cores through the tournament's contract; but this is definitely not the first time that someone lost their magical abilities through other means, and in most of those cases there was a way to counter those curses. There have actually been reported cases where their abilities had returned naturally with time so I personally believe that Mr. Potter has a very good chance of been reunited with his magic."

'I know but those were in cases where the curses where drastically dependent on the caster's magic or when the curse that was performed was vague, weak, and not clear at all. When the spell's magic ran out, the cores of the affected wizard had a very high chance of returning. Potter's case is different because the contracts statements are very clear, final and not dependent of anybody,' Minerva thought as she looked at the back of the Mediwizard, who was currently leaving through the hall's exit.

"Finally! I thought he would never leave."

"Mad-Eye Moody!" Mcgonagall stated, shocked, as she turned her look towards him.

"Don't 'Mad-Eye Moody' me; I have been standing here the whole time. I was just about to help Madam Pomfrey to take Mr. Potter towards the hospital wing, when you people came along. I have been waiting for almost fifteen minutes now. Will Potter be taken to that room or not?"

"Of course Professor Moody," the nurse rapidly responded. "Sorry Professor McGonagall; Professor Moody is right. Mr. Potter has been kept in here long enough. The boy needs to be taken to the hospital wing." Pomfrey excused herself for Mad-Eye as they resumed their unfinished task on taking the boy to the room mentioned.

McGonagall stood there for a second, holding a frown on her face, as she looked at the back of Professor Moody. She rapidly discarded it though as she then joined the group of wizards who continued to follow the hovering stretcher that contained the famous boy who lived.

**xXxHospital WingxXx**

An hour and a half had passed since Madam Pomfrey and Professor Moody had taken the boy to the hospital wing. After moving Mr. Potter from the stretcher to one of the hospital beds, Madam Pomfrey immediately ordered the crowd, with the exception of Moody and McGonagall, to leave the room. Pomfrey had then, with the help of the Head of Gryffindor, rearranged the child's pillows and bed sheets for the boy's comfort.

"I have ordered the remaining guests and wizards to leave," Dumbledore said as he entered the hospital wing. "How is he?"

"Still unconscious, Professor Dumbledore," Madam Pomfrey answered; whom was currently seated on a chair she had placed beside the boy's bed.

Dumbledore nodded. He then turned his gaze towards Minerva who was currently seated on a transfigured comfy white chair that she had placed beside the school nurse's. "Prof. McGonagall, you should go rest; it's almost three in the morning and you have classes to teach tomorrow."

"You're right...please find a way to fix this Albus," she said as she stood up from the chair and left the room but not before transfiguring the chair back to its original bed form.

"Don't you have classes tomorrow, Professor Moody?" the nurse asked as she looked at the Deputy Headmistress leaving the room.

"Professor Moody has been excused; he has volunteered to stay in here for the remaining of the night and keep the child company in case something happens," Professor Dumbledore answered for Mad-Eye as he then turn to look at the one mentioned. "Right Professor?"

Moody answered with a nod. "That means that I can actually sleep for a while," the nurse answered gladly at the news as she then stood up from the chair, "goodnight Professors."

"Goodnight Madam," was answered back, before she left towards her office.

"I will also be leaving now Professor Moody, but before that I will cast a spell on Mr. Potter to make sure that the boy is well protected."

"I understand Dumbledore; we must always be prepared for the worst."

Dumbledore nodded as he then walked closer to the unconscious boy to cast the spell mentioned. The protective spell he had cast would immediately alert him if the boy was in any threatening situation, "Goodnight Professor Moody."

"Goodnight, Dumbledore," Moody replied as he saw the Headmaster leaving the room.

**xXxTom Riddle's POVxXx**

**xXxDarknessxXx**

"Where am I?" he asked himself as he looked at his surroundings. This was the cause of his current confusion as the only thing he could see from every side was total darkness. The darkness was so intense that he almost felt like he was been consumed by it; he couldn't even see his hands. He reached for his wand, but was shocked when he learned that it was missing. 'Did that witch managed to put a spell on me before she died?' he thought as he tried to explain his current situation. Just seconds ago he was at Godric's Hollow, where the Potter's current hiding place was, fulfilling his mission of getting rid of his possible future adversary.

Months ago he was informed by Snape of a prophecy; a prophecy which marked the Potters' heir as a possible rival with the power to destroy him in the future. In exchange for this info, Snape had asked for the mercy of James Potter's wife. When he managed to trap her and her son, in what seemed to be the nursery room, he tried to honor that wish by giving her the chance to live in exchange for her son's life. She predictably refused by putting herself between him and the child, so he killed her anyways. With no one blocking his way, he walked closer to the cot. He found the one year old there, in a sitting position, looking straight back at him with his mother's emerald green eyes and as he looked back at the boy's gorgeous eyes, he doubted for a second the prophecy's authenticity as he couldn't believe that this baby could actually have the power to vanquish him. Him, the most powerful Dark Lord in existence. Pointing his wand at the baby, he regained his focus, as it was better to be safe than sorry. He then released one of his cold cruel laughs as he sent the Avada Kedavra curse to the boy.

*"Wait, this couldn't possibly be!" he exclaimed, as he remembered the moment when the green lighted spell suddenly backfired to him. "It can't be-"

As he was losing his control, he was suddenly interrupted by the sudden appearance of light. The light had been intense but its brightness rapidly reduced with time. "A pensieve?" he asked himself as he looked at the new object that had appeared before him. He had lost his sight for a bit with the sudden appearance of the light but, when he regained it, he noticed a strange looking basin right in front of him.

It was larger than any basin he had seen in his life and was made of pure gold. It was covered with strange looking symbols but the only thing that he could easily recognize and stood out from the rest, was the Potter's family crest with its stylish " _P"_. A piece of red cloth was also subtly passing around the crest, randomly moving, with gold letters that revealed the boy's name as 'Harry James Potter Evans'. The cloth was, curiously, slowly increasing in length but he ignored this as he looked back at the basin's contents.

The basin's contents were the source of the current light, as it was filled with bright silvery cloud-like liquids. "This must be the boy's memories," he said as he forcefully tried to calm himself. This current development only managed to confuse him more because he couldn't understand why he was standing in front of what seemed to be the boy's memories. With no wand on hand and with his heartbeat rapidly increasing, he put his head inside the basin as he hoped for some knowledge and explanation of his current situation.

He rapidly went after the brightest memory which was commonly seen as the pensieve's most recently added memory. He went after this memory as he logically thought that it would show him something of what happened just minutes ago.

**xXxHarry Potter's MemoryxXx**

*"You insufferable bastard! How dare you do this to me?" a very rough looking old man angrily exclaimed after casting a silencing spell.

Tom rapidly noticed the wooden leg from the man, but what made the Horcrux instantly recognize him was the man's very odd eyes. 'One small and beady, while the other a large coin sized magical eye...this could only be Mad-Eye Moody.' he thought as he continued to watch the scene in front of him. He didn't understand why he was watching a memory of Moody, instead of watching the child who was back at the Potters' house, but he continued to watch anyway. 'Maybe they weren't the child's memories after all?' he questioned the pensieve's memories for a second. 'Or maybe they are and Dumbledore had managed to corrupt them to confuse me, just in case.'

"Why did you do it?" Professor Moody madly questioned a boy whom was currently resting on what seemed to be one of Hogwarts infirmary beds. "Why did you run from the tournament?" he continued as he took the unconscious boy from his shirt and started to shake him. "Do you know how much trouble you have caused me?!"

Recognizing the room he was currently in, Tom walked closer to the current events. 'Interesting... Why would Mad-Eye Moody do something like that? What tournament is he talking about? Is the boy been suspected of casting dark magic for the Auror to treat him like that?' Tom continued to ask himself as he tried to figure out the scene that was currently in process.

"Professor Moody?" The boy sleepily asked as he was force to awake with the constant, rough shakes from the professor.

"Those eyes!" Tom shockingly exclaimed, after he saw the now opened eyes of the boy. "Th...this is Harry! Harry Potter!" he continued as his eyes widened. He had rapidly identified the boy in front of him as Harry James Potter, not because of the boy's similarity to his father, but because of the child's memorable green eyes. This development caused his confusion to be raised to the limits as he couldn't understand why the boy was now a teenager and not the baby that he had seen minutes ago.

**xXxHarry Potter's Memory EndsxXx**

"No, this can't be right...I must have foolishly fallen for one of Dumbledore's traps. All this darkness, these fake memories - they are just illusions to keep me confused and make me go mad," he exclaimed as he rapidly took his face out of the pensieve.

**xXxTom's POV EndsxXx**

**xXxHospital WingxXx**

Meanwhile, Moody instantly stopped shaking Harry's shirt as the boy was forcefully awakened. "Professor Moody, what happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital wing," the fake Moody responded while forcing himself to control his anger. "You were brought here after being found unconscious in the middle of Hogsmade covered with your invisibility cloak. Everyone things that you had gotten scared after looking at the dragons; that you decided to run from the tournament in order to not face them. Are they right? Were you scared?"

"No, I was not," Harry murmured, looking down at his sheets as he was reminded of the things that happened back at the tournament.

"So why did you run?" Moody harshly asked. "You know that your actions have brought a lot of consequences. Your magic has been taken away and it might never come back."

"I know."

"So you're awake."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed as he turned his look at the one mentioned; whom was currently entering the room.

"I was planning to go to sleep but apparently I was not allowed to do so," Dumbledore said as he turned his eyes towards the Professor.

"Don't look at me like that!" Moody exclaimed, "You know me...I just couldn't stand looking at the boy like this for so long, I needed to know what happened back there. I needed to know if this was actually caused by Voldemort or any of his bloody servants, so I forced him to awake."

Dumbledore nodded as he turned his look back at the black haired boy. "So what happened Harry? Why were you not at the tournament?"

"I-"

**xXxEnd of ChapterxXx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *At this moment he doesn't know that he's actually a Horcrux. He got scared with the possibility of the Horcruxes failing him, and this new dark area that surrounded him was actually of him been dead. He currently only have access to the boy's memories. With time, as his magic slowly replaces Harry's lost magical cores, he would be granted more power and abilities. Like having access to the boy's thoughts, and the things he's currently seeing, etc. Also, the cloth is increasing in length, because the Slytherin family name is slowly been added to it.
> 
> *Why fake Moody is going mad would be explained more in another chapter, but I think is kind of obvious.
> 
> Note: Harry still has the scar on his forehead, it would disappear soon.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter, hope you like it.

**xXxChapter IIxXx**

**xXxHospital WingxXx**

It was currently eleven a.m. and Harry was now finally awakening. He was still feeling sore and tired but his stomach was protesting so much that it was forcing him to awake. He then opened his eyes, only to be surprised by a huge set of eyes that were looking right back at him. "Dobby?" he asked while looking at the elf, whom immediately moved away from his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm so sorry sir. Dobby didn't meant to scare you," the elf quickly apologized as he continued to walk around the bed, "Dobby just wanted to check on Mr. Potter."

"Don't worry Dobby, as you can see I'm fine as I can be…after losing my magic." he answered, murmuring the last part.

"I'm glad, Dobby had gotten so worried when he heard the Headmaster saying that Mr. Potter had been kidnapped from the tournament."

"Kidnapped?" Harry's eyes widened at the news as he couldn't understand why the Headmaster had said that. Especially after he had already admitted to the professor, the night before, that he had willingly run away from the tournament.

Dobby nodded. "This morning, at the Great Hall, Dobby heard the professor saying to the rest of the school that some evil wizards, hidden in some invisibility cloaks, had kidnapped Mr. Potter from the tournament, in order to strip Mr. Potter from his magic."

"What?!" Harry practically yelled as he jumped out of his bed only to end in the floor due to the weakness in his legs.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she ran from her office to check on the boy after hearing Harry's sudden yell. Meanwhile, after hearing the nurse coming, the elf clicked his fingers and disappeared from the room just as the nurse entered. "Mr. Potter!" she exclaimed after seeing the boy on the floor.

"Don't worry Madame Pomfrey, I'm alright." Harry tried to reassure as the nurse helped him to stand up.

"You tried to leave, didn't you?" she questioned with a frown.

"No...I-"

"You can't leave! After what happened you need to stay in bed for a while in order to allow your body to recover some of the energy that it has lost," she explained as she forced the boy to get back in bed. "I know that you hate to be kept on this room for so long, but you need to heal first."

"I'm hungry," the boy revealed to the now retreating matron, making her stop.

"I will order some elves to bring you something," she answered without turning, before continuing on her way.

**xXxTwenty Minutes LaterxXx**

Some elves were currently taking Harry's empty plates from the food they had brought for him some minutes ago. He ignored them as he was still thinking about the things that Dobby had revealed to him a while ago. "Dumbledore needs to explain this to me," he murmured.

"Explain what?"

"Hermione," he answered with joy as he saw her entering the room.

"Hello Harry."

"Ron," the boy added as the Weasley had soon followed her but the boy ignored him, preferring to stand by a nearby window with his arms crossed.

"We have been trying to come here and visit for a while now but McGonagall and Pomfrey weren't letting us until now," Hermione explained as she sat on one of the beds beside Harry's. "I would have gone and asked the Headmaster for permission but he seems to have left right after the speech he made this morning," she added, receiving a nod from the boy. "I just can't believe that someone would dare to do something like this; stealing away your magical abilities! But don't worry Harry, I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore will come up with something."

"I'm sure he will." Ron finally said, while continuing to look through the window.

Harry opened his mouth for a moment, but then stopped. He was about to tell both of his friends that what Dumbledore had said to them this morning was a total lie, but a current and repetitive question stopped him in the end. 'Why did Dumbledore say that?'

"'Mione, can you please let me talk with Harry alone for a moment?"

"Why?"

"I just need to tell Harry something…alone."

"Alright, but as long as you promise me that this won't take long; you know how long we had to wait for Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall would even let us in," she finally answered.

"I promise."

Hermione nodded, before standing and leaving the room. She felt a bit hurt and curious that Ron had something to say to Harry without her presence, but she let go of her feelings and agreed in the end. 'They would probably talk about some boy's stuff.'

**xXxTom RiddlexXx**

He had said that he was not going to put his face on that pensieve again but he was getting tired and impatient. Tired and impatient of only being surrounded by darkness, with the basin as the exception, and not being able to do anything but look at the cloudy memories moving within the basin. He didn't know how long he had been here but he was starting to feel like an eternity had passed.

"Just one more time."

**xXxHarry Potter's MemoryxXx**

"I'm going to be honest with you Harry; I didn't believe a single thing of what Professor Dumbledore said this morning." A redheaded boy told to the Potter boy, whom remained in the hospital wing, still resting in one of its beds. "You may have managed to fool Hermione and the Headmaster, but your trickery will not work on me...and I'm not alone on this."

'He must be a Weasley.' Tom thought as he continued to watch the new scene.

"Wh-"

"Do you want to know why I didn't believe a single thing of it? Because I saw you."

"Saw me?"

Ron nodded. "What were you about to say a few moments ago, before retreating in the end? Where you going to admit to us the truth, that you weren't kidnapped at all? I can't believe you actually managed to tell such a lie to the Headmaster."

"Wait, I c-"

"I still remember how I was just about to tell you good luck on the first task, before I saw you hiding inside your invincibility cloak and then running away by yourself from the Challenger's tent…you were never forcefully taken away," Ron continued, interrupting Harry once again.

"Ron let me explain-"

"I don't need to hear your excuses, I'm sure they would only be more lies. I don't know what you actually are a coward or a liar. Maybe you're both!"

"Ron Weasley, that's enough!" an autocratic voice was heard, which Tom rapidly recognized as Madam Pomfrey's. The matron in charge of the school's hospital wing. "If that was the reason that you asked me for permission to come here, it would be kind of you to leave. Harry Potter needs his rest," she said, while she walked the boy towards the infirmary's exit.

"Don't worry Mrs. Pomfrey, I just said what I have to say," Ron responded, as he walked to the door with the nurse's as a guide.

"Ron, please don't leave..."

"You are no better than a slimy Slytherin, you should had agreed with the Sorting Hat and joined the Ferret's house."

"Ron you promised me that you would never speak of this with someone else present," Harry said, hurt, as he look at the nurse for a moment.

"I don't care, you don't deserve to be called a Gryffindor; telling such a lie to the Headmaster and the school so you could free yourself from admitting what you truly are...a coward! You're nothing but a coward, Harry. You hear me? A COWARD!" the Weasley madly yelled to the black haired boy, as he returned his look at him.

"That's enough!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed once again, as she forced the boy to finally leave the room.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, but was once again ignored by his red haired friend, whom was force out of the room.

*Madam Pomfrey released a sigh as she closed the door's room. "Mr. Potter, I'm sorry for what happened just know. I don't know if what the Headmaster said this morning was the truth or not, but if it wasn't, I'm pretty sure you had good reasons for not wanting to be part of that tournament," she said while looking back at the boy, whom gave her a nod in return.

"Please, I need to talk to him."

"What you need to do right now is rest, especially since I'm sure that he doesn't want to hear anything of what you have to say right now."

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, as she entered the room.

"Miss. Granger after what happened, it would be best to let Mr. Potter rest for the time being. He doesn't need any more scenes that could alter him," Madam Pomfrey explained, receiving a nod in return.

"I just wanted to check on Harry after what happened, are you okay Harry?"

"I'm fine, Hermione."

"I'm glad, I would make sure to talk to Ron about all this."

"You don't have to-"

"I will, and I need an explanation from Ron!" Hermione answered back. 'Why didn't Ron told me anything?'

"Hermione-"

"Anyways, I would leave now...please take care of Harry for me, Madam Pomfrey."

"Don't worry Miss. Granger, I would make sure that Mr. Potter is well treated and recovers soon." Madam Pomfrey answered at the girl, whom finally left the room once again.

"Don't worry yourself for what happened with Mr. Weasley. I don't see you as a coward, Mr. Potter. I personally would have run before being forced to go against a huge dragon," she continued as she tried to encourage the boy, "and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Weasley would have run as well instead of going against a Horntail Dragon," she added, while she accommodated the boy's blankets.

"Thanks," the boy murmured as he rolled over and pretended to go back to sleep.

**xXxHarry Potter's Memory EndsxXx**

**xXxTom's POVxXx**

At that moment Tom Riddle took his face out of the pensieve, ending the memory he was currently seeing. He was now wishing that he hadn't put his face in that pensieve again because he had ended up with more questions than before and with none of them answered. Why did the boy look like a teenager? What tournament were they talking about; a dragon-slayer like tournament? How did the boy managed to fool Dumbledore like that? The sorting hat wanted Potter in the Slytherin House? Who was Hermione actually, Potter's girlfriend? Why did Mad-Eye act like that? Why was he here? Where's his wand? Were these really the child's memories; was he inside the boy's head? Was this all a trap, an illusion prepared by Dumbledore for the moment that he came after the boy? Was he...

*"Enough!" He yelled after several minutes of questioning himself. He was getting angrier with every question that he thought of and he was sick of it. "Illusion or not, it seems like the pensieve is the only way around this. I will make you pay for this...Dumbledore."

**xXxEnd of ChapterxXx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Madam Pomfrey does know, she just doesn't want to let known that she had actually been spying on Dumbledore's conversation with Harry and Moody last night.
> 
> *I want to clear out that Tom would now constantly blame Dumbledore because he doesn't want to admit the possibility of a Muggleborn been responsible for all of this.


	4. Chapter 3

 

**xXxChapter IIIxXx**

xXxDaily Prophet NewspaperxXx

_The Boy Who Lived, A Coward?_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_You may currently be surprised after reading such a title, but I'm sure that most of you would start to wonder and ask the same question after reading of the shocking developments that occurred during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The challenge for the first task was to retrieve a golden egg from the nest of a mother dragon. The three champions:_ _Mr_ _Krum,_ _Mr_ _Diggory, and_ _Miss_ _Delacour all_ _went against_ _there selected dragons as planned,_ _al_ _though only the first two managed to complete the task_ _._ _Nevertheless_ _that's not news_ _;_ _the real news unexpectedly came when the turn of the fourth, and last remaining, champion arrived. After_ _Mr_ _Potter's name was called, and the curtains of the Challenger's Tent were magically opened, no fourth champion came out._

_The crowd and I were surprised by this, but we were all sure that this was just the boy playing with us and that_ _Mr_ _Potter would soon appear and walk out of that tent with the next call_ _,_ _but no such thing happened. After the tenth call,_ _Mr_ _Bagman, one of the organizers and judges of the tournament, began to reassure the public that the current happenings were just a misunderstanding and that they would soon be sorted out_ _._ _M_ _eanwhile the Headmaster, followed by_ _a few others_ _like our respected Minister and_ _Mr_ _Crouch_ _Sr_ _, another of the judges selected for the tournament,_ _were_ _seen entering the tent._ _Mr Crouch Sr was seen_ _again, a few minutes later, as he let the public_ _know_ _that_ _Mr_ _Potter was no longer inside the tent or anywhere near it._

_The crowd and I, as respectful people that we are, decided to wait a bit longer so that the missing champion could be found, as we all agreed on something:_ _Mr_ _Potter couldn't have possibly decided to run away, so he wouldn't take_ _part_ _in_ _the Tournament. Not including the fact that this has never been done before, this is the Boy Who Lived that we are talking about. The one that actually managed to defeat and survive the strongest Dark Lord ever in existence when he was only just a baby, so he couldn't possibly be scared of a mere dragon. But time showed us that this could possibly be_ _the_ _truth_ _, Harry Potter seems to actually be scared of dragons._

_After almost an hour of waiting, the_ _crowds'_ _patience finally broke after a shout of "Coward" was heard; which was soon followed and supported by the rest._ _Four_ _hours later the arena was practically_ _empty_ _with no Potter to be found, but as a fine reporter that I am I decided to stay and wait until the very end, when the Boy Who Lived was finally found. At 12:36_ _am_ _,_ _Mr_ _Potter was discovered in the middle of one of_ _Hogsmeades'_ _streets, in an unconscious state, with most of his body invisible, hidden beneath an invisibility cloak. He was later taken to the infirmary_ _at_ _Hogwarts, where the nurse in charge force_ _d_ _me out so I was not able to see the boy further_ _._ _However,_ _I promise all of you that I w_ _ill_ _get an interview from him when he finally_ _wakes_ _, and discover the_ _truth behind his disappearance_ _at the tournament._

_So what do you think, my faithful readers? Do you agree with the crowd in referring to_ _Mr_ _Potter as a "Coward," or not?_

**xXxWizengamot CourtroomxXx**

"I have some grave news for all of us, I'm afraid that Mr Potter was deprived of his magic," Dumbledore explained to the entire Wizengamot, while he kept his gaze on the Minister. He was also holding a copy of the Daily Prophet, where on the front page, in big letters; the main story of the day was about The Boy Who Lived. He was currently on a mission, a mission that consisted of, trying to change the Ministry's mind in regards to taking the boy away from him, and at the same time convince them that what happened at the first task of the Triwizard Tournament with Potter, was the result of a kidnapping.

"We are sorry to hear that the terms of the tournament's contract actually took effect," the Minister answered after a while, as Dumbledore's statement had immediately caused different reactions from the many witches and wizards present in the courtroom. "This is the first time that something like this has happened. I was honestly hoping that it wouldn't, especially with someone like the boy who lived on the line, but unfortunately it has. How has he taken the news?"

"I'm glad that you have asked about the well-being of the boy; because I have no choice but to lay most of the blame, of the current developments, on your shoulders, Minister."

"This is not the way to speak to the Minister of Magic," Fudge's Senior Undersecretary whimpered scandalized as she continued, "I didn't expected this from you, Chief Warlock. How dare you?"

"Excuse me, Madam Umbridge, but I'm just stating the truth," Dumbledore replied, causing quite a shock around the room.

"I'm honestly very taken aback by your accusations, Albus. I hope you have very good reasons for them."

"He shouldn't have to explain any-"

"I want to know!" Cornelius snapped, silencing the member of the Wizengamot who had spoken.

"I had deep reservations with Mr Bagman's idea of bringing the Triwizard Tournament back. If you had taken the time to listen to me, instead of to that man's careless designs of giving the wizarding Britain some short time of fame, this would have never happened." Dumbledore responded, while pointing at the paper. He had already come prepared with the idea of accusing Mr Bagman, especially after the man had also strangely disappeared a few hours after Potter's missing status was known.

"It's not the Minister's fault that the boy decided to run away from the tournament at the last minute," Madam Umbridge replied.

"The boy never ran away, he was actually forcefully taken out of there," Dumbledore explained, causing the witches and wizards to quieten down in shocked silence. "He was kidnapped from the tournament, in order to strip him of his magical abilities as a result of not taking part in the first task."

"I have not yet been given any evidence that could support your claims, Dumbledore. On what grounds are you basing these allegations?"

"I'm basing them on the fact that Mr Potter immediately informed me of this as soon as he awoke, Madam Bones."

"You understand of course that you're also insulting me with such accusations?" Madam Bones stated, receiving a nod as an answer. As the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she was in charge of making sure that the Triwizard Tournament was perfectly secure with her team of Aurors.

"Don't worry Madam Bones, the boy is obviously lying," Madam Umbridge oily reassured. "I honestly don't understand how our current Warlock could fall for such obvious lies," she continued, starting a heated political battle that lasted for almost an hour, until it was finally stopped by Madam Bones.

"Enough!" Madam Bones exclaimed, as she was getting tired of the endless bickering. "There's only one way to solve this and that's by questioning the boy under the use of Veritaserum." She stated, receiving immediate agreement from the rest of the council.

"In that case, Dumbledore, the Wizengamot council demands for Mr Potter's presence in this courtroom tomorrow so he can be questioned through Veritaserum." The Minister ordered.

"I would gladly do so, but unfortunately Mr Potter is not in any condition to be moved from the Infirmary at the moment. If the council wishes to still follow with the questioning tomorrow, it would have to be at the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts."

"That is understandable; we will make sure that a select few of the wizards and witches are present there tomorrow at 11am," Madam Bones answered.

"My only request," Dumbledore started, "is that should the kidnapping of Mr Potter be proven to be the truth, he stays at Hogwarts and any current demands of the Ministry trying to claim him are immediately suspended. I don't want the life of an indefensible child to fall victim to the hands of the ones that were supposed to protect him, but caused him to lose his magic because of improper protection."

"Fine!" Cornelius answered angrily, "this better be true, Albus, especially after all the accusations that you have made against me."

"I can assure you that it is," Dumbledore replied while developing a huge smile on his mind. His plan had worked. The Veritaserum was part of his plan, as he already knew of the many ways that he could alter it; and just in case, he would also change Harry's memories so they would only show what he wanted them to.

**xXxHogwarts Tapestry CorridorxXx**

"Here you are, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, as she entered the corridor and noticed him talking to a few others.

"What is it, Hermione? I'm busy right n-," Ron was cut off by a slap across his face, causing the rest of the students to immediately disband and leave the corridor. "Bloody hell, Hermione! What was that for?"

"You know why. Why did you say those things to Harry?"

"So he told you, the bloody coward... I didn't want you to know," he answered, while continuing to rub his reddened cheek.

"He didn't have to tell me anything, you were the one that was screaming like an idiot back there, I could hear everything from outside," she continued, as Ron's face turned sullen. "Why didn't you want me to know? Why didn't you tell me anything? You saw how worried I was about Harry; especially after this morning when Dumbledore said that he had been kidnapped... so why didn't you?"

"Because I knew that you would react like this. No matter what actually happened, you will always be on Harry's side. Beside, you wouldn't have believed me anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Admit it, Hermione, you wouldn't have believed me if I had told you that I saw Harry actually running away from the tournament, especially with what Dumbledore said."

"Yes, I would."

"Yeah, right."

"I would, Ron. But why did you speak to Harry like that? Why did you call him a coward like everyone else did at the tournament?"

"Because that is what he is, a bloody coward who is hiding behind a wall of lies. He was never kidnapped, Hermione, like I told him. I saw him walking away from the tent, hidden under the invisibility cloak."

"I don't agree with you, Ron. I actually think that he was very brave."

"Brave?"

"He is only fourteen, Ron! There was no way that he would have survived a fight against a huge dragon, especially with a Horntail which is known to be the most aggressive breed. I'm honestly very surprised that for once he actually chose his life, over the rest. Not including the fact that he would have also lost his magic in the process."

"Whatever! Keep defending him, Hermione. I'm sure that in time the truth will be revealed," he answered, before continuing on his way.

x **XxEnd of ChapterxXx**  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it. The rest of the already written chapters, would be posted soon.


End file.
